Once you have determined that a proposed mark is available and that you want to legally protect it, the next step is federal trademark registration. A brief overview of the registration process follows:

Application Questionnaire

In less than five minutes answer a few basic questions on our online application questionnaire and the DirectLegal team will do the rest.

Trademark Search

First, we can conduct a customized trademark search depending on your needs. We can perform a Knock-Out Search for direct conflicts or f you prefer, you can order a Comprehensive Search not only for direct conflicts, but for similar marks and even similar sounding names and other variations.

Trademark Office Filing

We'll send your completed trademark application to you by email for electronic signature, and then file your signed application with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). Our professional staff reviews your application for accuracy, completeness and common errors.

Application Confirmation

Once filed, you will immediately receive a summary of the filing by e-mail including the serial number of the application. All future correspondence with the USPTO must include this serial number.

Application Review

The USPTO then reviews the application to determine whether it complies with all applicable rules and statutes and includes all required fees. Typically, this occurs within about six months of the filing date.

Certificate of Registration

If the registration is granted, a Certificate of Registration is issued. This certificate from the USPTO is prima facie evidence of the validity of the registered mark and of the registration of the mark, of the registrant's ownership and exclusive right to use the registered mark in commerce on or in conjunction with the goods or services specified in the certificate.

Timeline

Generally, allow between eight months to more than one year to secure a federal registration certificate from the USPTO. However, your "effective registration date" is the date of filing regardless of how long the USPTO takes to issue your registration certificate.

Trademark Monitoring

As an optional service, using state-of-the-art technology, we will continuously monitor the federal trademark database for updates during the USPTO processing of your application or for any new trademark and service mark applications that may conflict with your mark. We'll send you monthly email reports so you'll be immediately alerted should anyone attempt to register the same or similar mark.